Some think safety improvments are leading racers to take too many chances

The Associated Press

Published Thursday, July 13, 2006

NASCAR has made significant safety strides since the death of Dale Earnhardt, and many drivers credit recent innovations for an improved safety record: No deaths and few serious injuries in NASCAR's top three series in the past five years.

But after watching his drivers get wrecked at high-speed tracks three times this season -- including Jeff Gordon knocking Matt Kenseth out of the lead at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday -- Roush Racing president Geoff Smith says drivers have been lulled into a false sense of security and are more willing to make risky moves.

After winning Sunday's race, Gordon didn't deny he made the aggressive move in part to pay back Kenseth for an incident earlier this season.

Smith suspects two other incidents this season were intentional and unsafe: Kurt Busch's crash with Roush driver Greg Biffle at Texas Motor Speedway, which led to a pit-road confrontation between Biffle's girlfriend and Busch's fiancee, and the Tony Stewart-Kenseth crash at Daytona.

Busch denied it was intentional. But after Daytona, Stewart said Kenseth deserved rough treatment because of an earlier race incident.

"The reason people keep pushing the limits is because they keep getting a slap on the wrist. And 25 points or 50 points are starting to get more peoples' attention -- and some of the fines," Gordon said Wednesday. "But until they truly react in a big, big way, I think that guys are always going to continue to push the limits."

Paybacks and grudges always have been a part of NASCAR. But revenge typically has been unleashed at relatively low-speed short tracks, not bigger tracks where speeds can exceed 180 mph and consequences can be more severe.

"It's starting to get in their heads that it's not dangerous anymore," Smith said.

NASCAR certainly is less dangerous than before Earnhardt's death. Drivers wear full-face helmets and head and neck restraints. Cars sport redesigned cockpits with improved padding, seatbelts and seats.

Tracks feature sprouted impact-absorbing wall barriers.

But racing never will be safe.

"We're not done testing the limits of what physics can do or not do in this sport," Smith said. "It's not bumper cars."

It sure looked that way Sunday. After winning the race, Gordon said he was trying to bump Kenseth out of the way, not wreck him.

"He should have expected, if I could get to his bumper, there was going to be some action," Gordon said Sunday. "One, because of what happened in Bristol -- and I'm not saying I just was going to wreck him, but you better believe I was going to make life difficult on him. And then No. 2, just 'cause we're hungry right now."

In March, Kenseth spun Gordon out at Bristol Motor Speedway and appeared to be trying to apologize after the race when Gordon shoved him. NASCAR fined Gordon $10,000 and put him on probation until Aug. 30.

Smith said it's odd NASCAR won't penalize Gordon this time: "(Just) because he confessed without trial doesn't mean there shouldn't be punishment."